taylor



2 sheets-sheet 1.l

(No Model.)

W. J. TAYLOR.

REFRIGERATOR.

No. 320,722. Patented June 23,1885.

IIIII 51m evi/7507* Mm?.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. TAYLOR.

REFRIGBRATOR.

Fm 00 8 1|. 3 2 e n u J d .e t n e .tu n@ D..

. m r f a m w 2. .2 7 0 2 3 0. N

w v v v A w m n. verras. mwmhnlnpmr, waning n.c.

NrTn STATES VILLIAM J. TAYLOR, OF y CHESTER,

PATENT @einen N. J., ASSIGNOR TO THE RIDGNVAY REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION 'forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,722, dated .Tune 23, 188'.

Application filed April 16, 1885. (No lnodel.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, VILLIAM J. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chester, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specication.

In improving the refrigerator I have proceeded upon the fact that dry pure air is as 1o essential as cold for a preserving atmosphere.

To maintain these conditions for proper refrigeration, there should be no inlet and outlet fora constantlychanging circulation of the air in the coldchamber; but an automatic cirr 5 culation should be maintained of the cold air confined therein. Equally important is it necessary to provide for the collection and carrying off the gases and odors with which the moisture in the air is laden, because it is 2o Well understood that it is the moisture in the air which carries all or nearly all the impure gases arising from the perishable contents of the chamber. The state of the art shows that it has been proposed to accomplish these 2 5 things. A diving air-circulating conduit, combined with an ice-containing chamber in a closed refrigerating-chamber, for giving a determined direction to a current of cold air without mechanical aid, in such manner that 3o a continuous volume of air will impinge upon the ice at the top of the chamber, and be caused to descend the conduit upon the principle of the greater specific gravity of the air within the conduit over that within the preserving chamber, into which said conduit opens at the bottom, is an old and well-known method of producing a circulation of cold air within an air-tight chamber.v A closed refrigerating-chamber having a top ice-box open 4o above and below, combined with a removable frame of metallic troughs arranged against and secured upon the walls of said chamber, said troughs being placed in alternately-inclined positions, one above the other, upon said frame, to eifect the automatic circulation of the air, and for the collection and retardation of the drip-water, and to effect and carry off the condensation of the moisture in the air in its automatic circulation without change, is embraced in the patent to Job H. Ridgway, of

February I6, 1875, No. 159,843; but these thingsthe conduit and the metallic troughsin their separate relation and functions in a refrigerating-chamber, cannot produce the advantageous results and co operating func- 55 tions which I obtain in their combined relation to produce a thoroughly self-purifying preserving-chamber.- This combination is the essential matter of my improvement, and upon it depends an effective and thorough ciroula- 6o tion of the confined cold air and a perfect condensation of the moisture in the air, whereby it is only possible to effect a thoroughly selfpurifying preserving-chamber.

My improvements also provide for convcnient access to the troughs for cleaning and for repairs, and for cleaning the drip-pan without the necessity of having to remove the troughcarrier from the chamber.

This improvement and the manner of ob- 7o taining these objects I will now proceed to de-` scribe, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in wl1ich- Figurel represents a vertical section of a refrigerator embracing myimprovements applied to what I call a double7 refrigerator; Fig. 2, a similar View showing my improvements applied to whatI call a single7 refrigerator. Fig. 3 shows the inner wall of the airdiving conduit and the arrangement of the 8o drip conducting and moisture e condensing troughs thereon; Fig. 4, side and top views of the icesupporting slotted bottom; and Fig.

5 a horizontal section on the line x x of Fig. 2, showing the hinged trough-carrier swung back.

The structure of the refrigeratingchamber may be of any suitable double-walled nonconducting construction, and provided with doors for access to the preserving-chamber A 9c y terior of the ice-box. Ico

A diving-conduit, C, opens centrally into the ice-box at its closed bottom, the vertical side D of said conduit joining the inclined box-bottom boards b I), so that the drip from the ice-box will run down to the open top of the air-circulating conduit and run down its Wall-troughs.

The ice-supporting rack F is placed above the bottom Z) of the boX, so as to form aspace, C2, at the top of the conduit, and the rack is open to allow free continuous circulation of the air through the conduit, the ice-box, and

the preserving-chamber. The conduit eX- tends down and opens over a drip-pan, G, at the floor of the preserving-chamber, such opening being formed at J J in the opposite side walls D D by not extending them to the chamber-floor. The conduit extends from wall to wall in the chamber, and divides it into two preserving-chambers, each of which communicates with the central conduit by the bottom side opening J, and with the ice-box by the top side passage, K, so that the conduit completes the air-circuit for each chamber, making the latter practically independent of each other in such circulation.

Upon the inner vertical walls of the aircirculating conduit are arranged metal troughs c, one above the other, inclined alternately in contrary directions, the uppermost of each set upon each wall receiving the cold water from the bottom boards b of the ice-box, and this Water, flowing downthe conduit along the troughs, passes from one to the other to the bottom trough, from the end of which it discharges into the drip-pan by a short pipe or chute," d, at or near the Wall of the chamber. The zigzag course taken by the drip-Water connes it Within the conduit for such a length of time that quite all its refrigerating properties are made available in cooling the air passing down through the conduit by an automatic circulation effected in a manner which I shall presently describe.

The troughs, which are preferably of V shape in cross-section, and made cold by the flowing drip, receive the direct impingement of the air upon their surfaces in its descent through the conduit, and thereby serve to condense the moisture in the air, and, collecting it, at the same time carry it off with the dripwater from the melting of the ice. By this construction the air confined in the refrigerator is put in circulation, so that the whole volume is caused to pass in direct contact with the ice, and then through the conduit C, over surfaces made cold by the drip, Which absorb or extract the vapor, and discharge the air in a practically dry condition at the bottom of the iiue, to be again passed in direct contact with the ice down over the conduit-troughs. In this circuit the air will pass out of the conduit, leaving upon its wall-troughs the moisture which it receives from the ice, and the impurities and bad gases which it receives from the food. This purifying of the air is by this means made thorough, because in its circulation it is directed positively while in inotion in currents over and upon surfaces which act instantly and constantly to absorb the moisture from it, and by such absorption render itpure and dry. This circulation is effected upon the principle that the air in contact with the ice and in contact with the metal troughs inclosed within a vertical conduit opening into the ice-box and into the chamber will become the coldest, and hence, being` more dense and heavy,wi1l fall from the ice-box into the confining-conduit, and from thence out at the bottom into the preservingchamber, and thus sta-rt the circulation downward from the top, the air of higher temperature rising in the chamber and passing over the ice, following the coldest air in circuit through the trough collecting-conduit.

It is important in this method of producing cold dry air that the moisture absorbed from it should not be retained upon the absorbing surfaces, but should pass off as quickly as it is collected, and hence the V form of the troughs is important in allowing fthe moisture which collects upon their Walls to fall into the drip- Water inside and also outside of the troughs.

In the Ridgway patent referred to, the volume ofair in circulation is so diffused in the chamber as not to produce the best results in freeing the air of moisturethat is to say, such circulation is not concentrated in a narrow passage or conduit in any part of said circuit, Where the two operations of cooling the air and taking the moisture from it are concentrated upon the whole volume of air in thev preserving-chamber.

Vhile the top of the conduit must be open for the free entrance'of the cold air falling from the ice, yet it must be covered by one of the drip-boards E of the ice-rack to prevent any water falling direct from the ice-box into and through the conduit, which would splash upon the iioor, or upon the food in the chamber, or into the drip-pan.

The supplementing of the conduit open at both ends by a cover, E, formed of the icerack, is important in preventing the free falling of water through said open conduit, which might interfere with the moisture-absorbing function of the troughs.

The drip-pan G is provided with a drainpipe H, having a water-seal to prevent the inlet of warm air or the escape ofcold air.

To afford facilities for cleaning the troughs of the settlings from the dri p-water, and for cleaning the drip-pan, the sides D of the conduit are hinged to the inner wall of the preserving-chamber, so as to be opened, like a door, within the chamber. The sides D of the conduit are made battened, like a door, as shown in Fig. 3, and the hinges c e are fastened to the ends ofthe cross-battens f, so that the sides of the conduit will be solid and form a close connection with the under side of the solid bottom of the ice-box. The hinged conduit-sides are fastened at their non-hinged ends to the chamber-wall by bolts, or in any rio suitable way, and access is had to open them through the chamberdoors- The central arrangement of the conduit gives two chambers, each havingadoor, and the sides D of the conduit are adapted to be -opened in each chamber to give access for cleaning the troughs; but the circulation is complete in each chamber, as the air descending the conduit passes out alike at both sides at the foot into the preserving-chambers and into the ice-box at the top of both, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1.

In the arrangement of the icebox and conduit at the side of the chamber, the circulation is the same, the conditions by which it is produced are the same, and the results are the same, whether one or both the inner walls are provided with the troughs, as shown by the single-chambered refrigerator in Fig. 2. In this latter construction the4 hinged side D only is provided with the troughs,and the icerack is supported upon knee-pieces, so as to elevate the inclined metal-faced cover E of the conduit above the open top of the latter, to direct the drip upon the solid bottom b of the iceboX,from which it ows directinto the troughs down the walls of the air-circulating conduit. As the drip-pan is placed to receive the water from the lowest end of the lowest trough, I make the bottoni of the lowest trough of wood to prevent any drip from it upon the chamber-floor.

It is the thoroughness with which the moistnre is abstracted from the air in its descent through the conduit,and the constant upward movement ofthe air in the chamber, that prevents the imparting of the taste of one article to another; and it is the lining of the conduit, from its top below the ice-box toits bottomatthe chamber-floor, with themetallic troughs, that permits the drip-water from the ice to be carried slowly down the conduit to assist in cooling the air and giving force to the circulation.

For this purpose it is important that the drip from the ice-box should pass over the edge of the bottom board, b, direct into the y conduit, vbut not upon its walls; and to prevent this the edge of the bottom b overhangs the conduit-walls, and the upper of the series of metallic troughs is placed on the wall of the conduit directly under the overhanging edge.

The air falls from the ice by its greater gravity, and, being coniined within the conduit C, falls in direct and continuous con tact with the projecting troughs, which act as shelves whose surfaces are pitched to quickly drain off the water of condensation. In this particular the air-circulating conduit is made a condensing-chamber for the water in the air and a passage for the dripwater from the ice to cool the air; and in effecting these two results by old means I produce a new and better result than it is possible to obtain by the employment of the conduit without the moisture-collecting and dripconduct ing troughs, or by the employment of the latter without the air-circulating conduit, in a refrigerator in which the air has a determined direction over and in contact with ice contained in a box open at the top and at the bottom, whereby the air, being rst cooled by contact with the solid ice, is subsequently made dry and colder, first, from the action of the ice-water, and, second, from the action of condensing-surfaces made cold by the ice-water descending a narrow passage from the ice.

The location of the doors for access to the refrigerator and to the ice-box is indicated by the dotted lines in the drawings.

I claiml. The combination, with an ice-box, open at its top and at its bottom, and an air-tight preservingchamber, of a vertical air-circulating conduit open at its top and at its bottom, having metallic troughs on its inner wall or walls, arranged substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with an ice-box, open at its top and at its bottom, and an air-tight preservingchamber, of a vertical air-circulating conduit, C, open at itstop and at its bottom, having interior wall-troughs, arranged as described, a cover, E, and a sealed drippan, as herein described, for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with an ice-boX and an air-tight preserving-chamber, of a vertical air circulating conduit formed by one or more solid hinged sides provided with metallic troughs arranged on the inner wall thereof, substantially as described, for the purpose specied.

4E. In a closed refrigerating-chamber an iceboX open at the top and bottom, in combination with metallic troughs carried by a door hinged vertically to the wall of said chamber, so as to be opened within the latter, substantially as described, for the purpose specied.

5. |lhe combination, in a closed refrigerating-chamber, of an ice-box open at the top and at the bottom, and a vertical conduit lined with wall-projecting troughs extending from its ripper end, opening int-o said ice-box, to its lower end, opening into said chamber, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. J. TAYLOR,

Witnesses:

A. l?. RUTHERFORD, E. H. AUsTIN.

IOO 

